I haven't posted in a while, too many other things going on. I have been playing with my TH5, and as I reported several weeks ago, was doing some inductive transmissions using the neutral line with limited success. Worked pretty well up to a couple of blocks then just dropped out completely. Tried several other things, no other gains noted.
Of course it has been raining here almost continuously. So I haven't been able to get much done outside.
Today, I took time to move my TH5 to a small truck tool box that is weather proof, mounted a 102 in. whip on the box, and mounted the TH5 in it. Ran power cables, patched in the wireless link etc. It is about 25 foot high on a metal roof, not my preference, but it is what I have available.
Range is about the same so far. Maybe a little more uniform in pattern since it is not dependent on the transmission lines for reception. And I am still fighting a hum. It is prevalent all over town, so I do not think it is the TH, it does of course couple with the signal, but I have got it minimized somewhat. It is not my feed system, as it doesn't exist when I use my FM transmitter, which BTW sounds great, but isn't what I am focusing on.
I did get the sound quality to come up on the TH5 by using an old mixer I had with equalization. Actually getting some depth from the transmitter now.
I had to quit for the day, because we have T-storms coming again, and my wife wants me to take her to dinner this evening (she has some nerve..LOL).
Will tinker with it tomorrow probably weather depending, and report back.
Wish me luck..
Well, as it would figure, I was going to drive across town on our way to dinner to test reception in another direction than what I did earlier.
Imagine my surprise when I didn't hear my station. I made a few minutes on our way back by, (much to wife's chagrin) to go in and check things. Transmitter was up, as I thought it was due to the "quieting" on the frequency. My wireless link was however offline.
We went to dinner, and when I came back, I went back to transmitter location and worked on it. Tried hard wiring, but there was too much line noise with the cable I had to work with. I re-initialized the wireless A/V devices and am back on the air again for now.
life get tedious don't it? Same can be said for getting radio stations working and testing them.
Hope you will keep us informed.
Well, we are still going. Playing a variety of classic country, old time radio shows (my favorites) and even some classic rock.
Coverage is about what I posted earlier... 2-3 blocks. Though I did detect it 5 blocks away yesterday in the middle of the day. I would save my hobby money for a Rangemaster or ?? if I thought it would do better.
Craigf, if I read your first post correctly, you are thinking that the hum problem is not the fault of the Talking House. If you are hearing the hum "all over town", as you say, I'd bet you a buck that it's the Talking House. That issue is pretty commonly reported.
The rangemaster would be well worth the investment, or a procaster if you don't want to hassle with audio processing. The biggest issue the TH units have is the dreaded FM wobble that will just obliterate any long distance reception. That being said, you can get some decent range out of them. You could also try grounding the transmitter to the roof.
I don't think it is the TH humming, but I know they are prone to it. I have something in my immediate neighborhood that hums (AC powerlines) like crazy. But, when I get away from here a block or so, the TH signal clears up.. humm free, actually sounds pretty good.
I probably should clear up what I meant by hearing a hum all over town! I meant that we have hum issues on AM reception everywhere here wether it is my fleapower or the big guys out of DFW. Our line carriers have neglected to maintain transformers/grounds etc like so many areas of the country.
I did have an initial hum problem with my broadcast when direct coupling my audio source to the TH, but when I went to the wireless A/V system it cured that problem (and created others).
The one good side of the wireless A/V is I can move the TH around experiment with location fairly easy. BTW, thanks for the reply!
In my area there's some hum that infests the lines in certain places, across the whole AM band. It's an evil sounding hum, not smooth 60-120 hz, but has a really deep fundamental, buzz saw, whine and hiss to it. One whole avenue in the area has it and it affects every radio station, blocking most.
Does the hum seem to be onnly on your signal, or does it affect other broadcasters too?
One thing to try if you're not sure that the hum is actually on your signal or not is to go into an area away from power lines, like a wooded area or your 'back 40' and see if the hum weakens or goes away, a few hundred feet from lines at least.
The metal roof should be a great place to operate a transmitter on, because the metal provides a ground plane underneath. Maybe you could put a ferrite noise blocker on the audio lines, or DC ground the Talking House's case to the roof.
Radio is one of those things where every situation is different, it's good to tweak and tune, listen with a critical ear, then adjust again, keeping notes as it gets better and better.
I'm like that too, I get into project mode and someone will want to pull me away. I love going to dinner, but it can seem like the worst when you're in the middle of science! I just have to shut off my thoughts until I can get back to it, and drop everything.
A couple of things I would like to share:
1- I worked at a 1KW station that when listening to a GE Super Radio at the transmitter site I heard hum. When I was 1/4 mile away it was gone.
2- Even my new and improved (mods from iAM) FM's. If there is a station on or near channel, the listening becomes very annoying.
3- I know, I know, I promised 2 things: Audio quality on Rangemaster, ProCaster or SsTran much better. Hope this helps.
@Nate Definately on all the am broadcast stations when it is present. But, I had to run to the parts store after work which is near my transmitter site. As I pulled up, I was quite impressed with my stations strength and clarity... no hum, matter of fact it sounded really good. So, the TH is hum free, just depends on the location you are hearing it.
Going to work on the range next. But today, with bright sunlight and heat, the range was a bit better, could actually hear it across town at my residence.. about 3/4 mile. Not the best, but definately there and very understandable. That metal roof should really make it work well, I just need to tweak some things I think.
@Druid. Many years ago, I remember an old AM station in west texas. The control room was lined with wire mesh, they had so much RF in the room that everything hummed if you touched it. If you touched a turntable while it was playing, it would hum over the air!!! The control room was a few hundred feet from the transmit tower. They are still on the air today, and actually doing well. I wonder if they still have the problem!!!
Just a suggestion, but instead of grounding the transmitter to the roof, install it just an inch or so above it.
I found that the capacitive coupling actually can work better than a direct one (and there is none of that pesky ground wire issue to consider).
Yep. Good suggestion.
Ugh, it is hot here in Texas!
I worked on grounding issues early Friday morning. I always love climbing on the roof first thing in the morning! In my case I have a small truck box mounted on the roof near a section that allows it to blend in somewhat with the roof line. Inside the toolbox is the TH 5 with the power and audio feed cables running out of it to the eave of the roof and then to power connections inside. I use a wireless audio link to send the feed to the transmitter. I mention this, because I have had some fading issues as the temperature has warmed up dramatically in the warehouse where I have the A/V receive stashed. I modified its location, and changed the ground a bit on the TH. I didn't gain much distance, but I pretty much eleminated the hum inside now on AM. I consider that progress. Whats funny, is that the hum wasn't prevalent outside the building.
I was having to monitor the broadcast through a seperate feed running from the mixer to a crane fm transmitter. Now, I can listen to the A.M. transmission in the building. Small things excite me! Now, if I can get the distance to a mile out, I would be even more pleased.
On another note, I am using Zara Radio for auto programming. I think it is good product. But, I wish it were easier to predict timing coming up to the hour and half hour when I run my station ID's. I am currently experimenting with Radio DJ, which actually does things bit different. I see trade offs though, such as the time and temp announcements. Any thoughts???
Timing ID's on the hour shouldn't be a problem.
I created a "sequence" file which contains top of the hour ID, news, weather and theme songs (in a rotation file.)
The scheduler is set to run the "sequence" file on the hour. Running it as a sequence allows the playlist to remain unchanged. What happens is the playlist stops when the sequence starts. When the sequence is done the playlist starts up where it left off.
I have Zara set to do a 2 second fade out when a file stops so the begining of the sequence doesn't cut off the currently playing file abruptly.
Zara is pretty flexible as you can nest a "rotation" file in a "sequence" file. I think you can even nest a "sequence" file within a sequence.
Thanks for the idea on how to do it better than I have been doing it. I will give it a try!